WEAC And Doyle Fight for More Union Members Instead of the Kids
WEAC’s puppet, Governor Doyle, comes through for them again.
At the request of Gov. Jim Doyle, the Senate voted to cap enrollment for online schools at the current level - now about 3,500 students statewide - while a study is done on virtual learning.
Under the Senate changes, that number of online students could not go up again until the 2011-‘12 school year, and then only by about 875 students. Dozens of parents and virtual school students came to the Capitol on Tuesday to fight the enrollment cap.
The 18-15 vote by the Senate - controlled by Democrats - sends the measure to the Assembly, which is run by Republicans.
The Assembly will meet for only a few more days before its scheduled adjournment next month. There might not be time to negotiate a compromise to changes dictated by Doyle, who promised to veto any bill without an enrollment cap.
Remember that it was WEAC who sued to kill virtual schools. At the time they told everyone that they were fine with virtual schools, but that they didn’t comply with state law. All they wanted, so they said, was to make sure it was legal.
Now they show their true colors, as if they weren’t already showing. Why is there a need to cap enrollment? What purpose is served? By all accounts, virtual schools are performing well for the kids who are attending them. They offer an educational opportunity for kids who may not do well in the more regimented and socially demanding traditional schools. Yet WEAC and Doyle want to cap enrollment for years until a study is completed.
This isn’t about the kids. It never was. This is about the fact that virtual schools are less expensive for the taxpayers (while providing better results). They are less expensive because they use fewer teachers per student. Fewer teachers equals fewer WEAC union members.
The next time WEAC or Governor Doyle tell you that every child deserves a great school, you can laugh in their faces. They don’t believe that. They believe that every child deserves a union teacher who pays dues that filter back to Democrats.
Obviously, Doyle won’t listen to me. For those liberals out there who said that you supported virtual schools and this bill… will you call Doyle on this?
Well, what was it the DPI lawyer said at the virtual schools rally? Oh, that’s right:
Perhaps most interesting was a Fraudian slip by the DPI lawyer when she said, referring to all students .. “they aren’t your children they are the state’s children”.
As you said, WEAC’s true colors are showing. Virtual schools, homeschools, private schools are all a thorn in their side. No other organization would get away with delivering such a shoddy product and demanding everyone buy it when competition clearly offers something better.
They see children as “their” children - not the parents - and those children = tax monies, nothing else. Education is secondary to dollars.
Posted by Amy P. on February 20, 2008 at 0851 hrs
Please don’t limit yourself to laughing. Consider belching, spitting, or even vomiting. This WOULD be laughable if it weren’t about every parent’s ability to find a learning situation that he or she thinks best for his or her child. That’s much more than a statement about personal liberty. It’s a bet on the child’s lifetime, and on our collective economic and political futures. Wake up, people. It’s high time for some dramatic gesture—puking on Russ Decker’s shoes would be a great start—that vividly displays the extent to which unionized education and its political puppets are not just a curiosity or an inconvenience but A REAL AND DANGEROUS hindrance to our children’s happiness and our collective weal.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 20, 2008 at 1134 hrs
Bought, paid-for, deal done. Typical Doyle.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 20, 2008 at 1339 hrs
Senator Lena Taylor voted with her buddy Doyle too.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 20, 2008 at 1504 hrs
Senator Lena Taylor voted with her buddy Doyle too.
Mine (Senator Ellis) voted with the side of goodness and light. Dang, I don’t even get the satisfaction of voting out a bum senator.
Bought, paid-for, deal done. Typical Doyle.
I’d sure like to be able to do more than belly-ache around the camp-fire.
At the same time, I _am_ sick and tired of this. I don’t want to play political games, I want my government to be small, inoffensive and responsible to the citizens. Having to keep politiking just to get it to do the right thing now and again is tedious.
Ya, I know: good luck with that.
Posted by Brian on February 20, 2008 at 1643 hrs
News flash—the union (WEAC) is by definition about saving the jobs and protecting the benefits of teachers. I’ve never understood the stinging criticism coming from the right when they say, sarcastically, referring to the union: “And its all about the kids, right?”
Frankly, no it is not. The union is a union of teachers, and yes, the first concern of the union is the teachers’ jobs. With a stable job, we (teachers) can properly tune our priorities to the kids. As teachers doing our jobs, our priority is the students and learning. Off the job, after hours, with the union, we have to fight like hell to keep our jobs in a collective bargaining environment that continues to erode our power at the bargaining table.
Since 1993 we have been fighting hard against virulent attacks from the political right that want to abolish public schools. That motivation (the political one to eliminate public schools) is no more “about the kids” than the union’s political fight. Let’s stick to the arguments and quit holding teachers’ dedication to our youth against them. It’s a particularly ugly rhetorical ploy.
I don’t pretend to be very well-versed about the particulars surrounding WIVA. But Bertie Darling was at my school today and referred to that session in response to a student question. It sounds like the Dems in the senate pulled a procedural delay in order to get their house in order after Doyle slipped the caps in. Democracy and sausage making…Posted by Mike on February 20, 2008 at 1838 hrs
Allow me to cherry pick a bit…
The union is a union of teachers
Exactly my point. But then they should stop pretending that it IS about the kids. Dropping their BS slogan would be a start. It should be “every union teacher deserves a job.”
Since 1993 we have been fighting hard against virulent attacks from the political right that want to abolish public schools.
Again. Bullshit. I AM part of the political right and I do not support abolishing public schools. Your assertion is either ignorant or intentionally trying to mischaracterize the right’s stance.
Posted by Owen on February 20, 2008 at 1850 hrs
I’ve never understood the stinging criticism coming from the right when they say, sarcastically, referring to the union: “And its all about the kids, right?”
Frankly, no it is not.
Then tell your union to stop using it as their motto.
Since 1993 we have been fighting hard against virulent attacks from the political right that want to abolish public schools.
Speaking only for myself - I self-describe as ‘fence sitter’ politically - I don’t want to abolish public schools.
We’ve got a republican form of government. If we want to keep it then it might be a good idea to have government run schools that instill the obligations and duties of citizenship.
I like WIVA - my kids have been attending WIVA for three years - because it is a public school.
Schools don’t have to be in a dedicated building any more than I have to sit in a cube to do my job.
If you require a classroom to be a teacher well that’s fine but not all of your students do.
Welcome to the 21st century, Mike.
Posted by bdunbar on February 20, 2008 at 2011 hrs
On the motto: Are we talking about “Every kid deserves a great school”? I don’t see where that says the union isn’t interested in advocating for teachers’ jobs. Don’t see where it does, either. Mottos are mottos. I dunno, I think it sounds kind of trite by now. But mottos, unless very well-written, have a relatively short shelf life. Am I missing a motto that says “It’s all about the kids.”? That’s an honest question. I may be missing it, I’m not sure. If there is such a motto, then I’m with you all, we should change our motto.
On the right’s desire to abolish public schools: I used to say “the conspiracy theorist in me sometimes thinks…” before I said something like “...the right wants to abolish public education.” But I’ve stopped using the conditional.
I think it’s safe to say I’m neither being ignorant nor mischaracterizing the right’s stance. I’ve heard the argument made here, not in a post, but in comments. And it wasn’t made in anger by someone irresponsible. It was an informed and thoughtful argument. Government shouldn’t be in the business of educating kids. It’s not a part of the founding fathers’ vision of the state. It’s the parents’ job.
Jonah Goldberg has argued just such a point last June in the NRO.
Hey…I’ll admit my union’s motto could use an upgrade and further, the union’s top priority is teachers’ jobs. You admit the right wants to do away with public education.
Then we can start talking WIVA.
Posted by Mike on February 20, 2008 at 2115 hrs
This is probably the same thing that happened with AB1060 in 2005, also designed to help protect VCSs—thousands of calls from parents and supporters of this innovative form of education, urging Gov. Doyle to sign the bill and one call from WEAC. Hmmm ... how did that one turn out again?
Posted by hsgbdmama on February 20, 2008 at 2132 hrs
You admit the right wants to do away with public education.
Then we can start talking WIVA.
Why would I “admit” a falsehood. That’s NOT true. It’s true of a few folks, I’m sure, but by and large the Right does not want to abolish public schools. Until you rid yourself of this false belief, I fail to see how it is possible to engage in a rational discussion of the status, goals, and performance of public education.
Posted by Owen on February 20, 2008 at 2139 hrs
Dang, I was flattered to have your ear there for a while.
Posted by Mike on February 20, 2008 at 2228 hrs
From the WEAC ad on Wispolitics:
“I believe great schools benefit everyone. What do YOU believe?”
*unless, of course, those schools break the traditional mold of public, unionized, brick-and-mortar schools.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 20, 2008 at 2354 hrs
*unless, of course, those schools break the traditional mold of public, unionized, brick-and-mortar schools.
Which is doubly funny / ironic - the teachers at WIVA are unionized.
My wife pointed this out to me when she was teaching in Texas - she was forced to pay dues to the union, which would then use the funds in ways that were not helpful to the membership.
Posted by bdunbar on February 21, 2008 at 0008 hrs
Mike seems to be confused about cause-effect relationships, a problem many public school teachers have.
Children exist. Children need education. Education can be provided by teachers. To better teach the children, an appropriate union would help the teachers preserve their job and not get stiffed by unreasonable management/administration.
Mike’s apparent view: WEAC exists. WEAC needs as many teachers as possible, forced to pay dues in order to support WEAC so it can fund bribery of elected officails to legislate more teachers. WEAC teachers must support more teachers, reagardless of how few students there might be, or how poorly taught they are.. In their spare time, WEAC teachers might consider doing what is best for the state’s children - teaching them.Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 21, 2008 at 0057 hrs
Help me here. What did I say to lead someone to think that my apparent view was this?:
Mike’s apparent view: WEAC exists. WEAC needs as many teachers as possible, forced to pay dues in order to support WEAC so it can fund bribery of elected officails to legislate more teachers. WEAC teachers must support more teachers, reagardless of how few students there might be, or how poorly taught they are.. In their spare time, WEAC teachers might consider doing what is best for the state’s children - teaching them.
OK, wait. I did say something that led folks to believe that “WEAC exists.” Got me.
Geez-
Posted by Mike on February 21, 2008 at 0828 hrs
Mike’s points are telling. Unionism in the context of a free public education—a right preserved the state’s constitution—is about creating a stable job environment? Horseshit. Perhaps at one time it was. In 2008, however, it’s about the weight, plain and simple. It’s about the union’s enormous political power to shape the delivery of that constitutional right in ways that pre-empt a parent’s right—and most particularly a poor and middle-class parent’s right—to chose which school situation is best for his or her child. (And, in the WIVA case, shockingly, the willingness to pre-empt that right even when the selected alternative is staffed by the union’s own members.) Most of us don’t care about the radical right, Mike. I’m a lifelong Democrat (big D and proud of it) raised by poorly educated wage-earning parents who descended from Bob LaFollette farm families, friend. It’s MY people who benefit most from the choices the union is blocking, not the Milwaukee Country Club and University School crowd. And MY people—white, Black, and Latino—are getting righteously pissed off about WEAC cronyism like this.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 21, 2008 at 1033 hrs
And please do NOT ask me to be civil in this discussion. This is not a civil discussion. It’s a discussion that pits job protectionists against people who want what’s best for their children. Here’s recent testimony from a WIVA parent:
“Our 7 year old daughter, Sarah, is visually impaired and has epilepsy. When she was 5, we were told she is also at risk for being diagnosed with ADHD and a Learning Disability. We open-enrolled Sarah in WIVA when she was 5 for Kindergarten. Sarah is currently in 1st Grade at Wisconsin Virtual Academy and is thriving. As one example, Sarah did no more than scribble as a 5 year old leaving her Early Childhood Program at our local elementary school. During her Kindergarten year at WIVA she progressed through a pre-school and kindergarten handwriting program and is currently writing at a 1st grade level. Sarah is also reading large print at a 1st grade level.
Given Sarah’s special needs and personality, the one on one teaching/learning environment of our public virtual school has been exactly what she needed to excel.”
This argument is not about political theory or oligarchic conspiracies. It’s about nice people wearing sensible shoes who are sometimes doing a poor job shaping a child for life, and about the efforts of the union that represents those nice people to keep that child’s parent from making a better choice for delivery of right that’s guaranteed by the state’s constitution. It is thus no overstatement to say that this is a fight over a civil liberty. People who are set on compromising that liberty are my enemies and the enemies of a free society; that’s harsh, but true.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 22, 2008 at 1341 hrs
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